Malaysia Money Matters

This is more like a "note to self" kind of posting.. it's from something someone said on Oprah, can't remember who (he did seem a bit supercilious) but what I remember was that he said in order to be considered truly 'wealthy' and thus happy in one's life - one should have a BALANCE of these 5 kinds of 'wealth': Material Intellectual Physical Emotional Spiritual So lets break it down: Material wealth - the most obvious one, of course, money & possessions etc. I would include a steady or assured income because there's nothing more stressful (to me) about not knowing whether you're going to get any income. Of course, some entrepreneurs may thrive on such an adrenaline rush, but not me, thank you. Intellectual wealth - I believe it means more than just education or qualifications. It should also include the thirst for knowledge and having the ACCESS to knowledge that makes one truly wealthy. Not surprising that even in...

So once again, Malaysia's Pauline Hanson / Fred Phelps Ibrahim Ali, whom I refer to as the bastion of brown supremacy has, in his latest speech, called for the burning of Malay-language bibles that happen to use the word "Allah" for God. Frankly, all I have to say is that I dare him to do it. Why don't you take the first torch and burn one instead of 'calling on Muslims' to do so, Mister? You are a Coward and Instigator.  This kind of people are the real treasonous types who are going to bring this country crashing down on us, by instigating the .. well.. not too bright, emo, layan perasaan, ting-tong, lots of time on their hands but not enough braincells to figure out what to do-types to cause havoc . Shame, shame, shame on you. Bet he's all talk anyway. Try and burn one and see la. Bet you don't dare, Ibrahim Ali.

I didn't go this time around. I did go for Bersih and got teargassed (thanks, at least I got back some of my tax dollars back). The pro-UMNO blogs are, of course, belittling this latest public protest - not surprised, if I were in their shoes, I'd probably do the same. Nonetheless, the crowd looked substantial enough and after the speeches, it ended peacefully. I'm expecting the mainstream media to downplay this again and emphasise that it was a "small" turnout, implying that support for the opposition has waned. Also they are pointing out that there are lesser Chinese out this time.. Well, in the face of the recent news about PAS's heavy handed ways in Kelantan, one may think so. However, surprisingly, the head economist of Bank Islam went on record at a conference in Singapore a few days ago saying that he expects BN to lose (well, he said PR would win but potato potatoe, you know) by a small margin. So does a relatively small turnout mean lesser s...

This is from the book written by the late Reverend Dr K Sri Dhammananda "What Buddhists Believe"; the following was extracted from the book "What the Buddha Taught" by the Venerable Dr W Rahula. I'm writing this out more as a reminder for myself - somehow it's akin to copying out scripture, in physically replicating the words, it is like a meditation and to imbue these words into yourself... [Besides, it was in point form compressed into paragraphs, am just breaking it up so that it's easier for me to read hehe - lists are easier to see! :)] A man named Dighajanu approached the Buddha and asked him, "Venerable Sir, we are ordinary laymen, leading a family life with wife and children. Would the Blessed One teach us some doctrines which will be conducive to our happiness in this world and after?" The Buddha told him that there are four things which are conducive to a human's happiness in this world: A) He should be: Skilled Eff...